Food allergies occur when the dog’s immune system overreacts to an ingredient in their food. The immune system responds to this ingredient with inflammation in different parts of the body, like the skin or the gut.
The most common sign of food allergies in dogs is itchiness, but your dog may also experience the following symptoms:
- irregular bowel movements
- bad breath
- excessive gas
- rumbling or gurgling sounds from the gut
- nausea
- lesions
- recurring ear infections
- hair loss
Many of these symptoms are also signs of other allergies or conditions, like environmental allergies or an allergic reaction to a flea bite, therefore it can be tricky to properly diagnose a food allergy. The most common foods that trigger these symptoms are dietary proteins.
The top five common food allergens for dogs
- Chicken
- Beef
- Dairy products
- Lamb
- Eggs
What are the best ingredients to look for when your dog is experiencing food allergies?
It's best to find foods with novel ingredients (protein, grains, and legumes) and stay away from common allergens. HOPE’s Insect Protein, Brown Rice and Oats Formula is a fantastic option for dogs with food allergies since it doesn’t contain any animal proteins or wheat.
These top five common food allergens are in most dog foods, so what steps can you take if you think your dog has an allergy to one of them?
You can perform a food elimination trial to remove the culprit from your dog’s diet. Allergy tests based on skin, saliva, blood or hair samples can produce unreliable results and food elimination trials are the gold standard for determining food allergies in dogs.
What is the best food for dogs with allergies?
The best foods to choose for dogs with potential allergies are those with novel proteins or a hydrolyzed protein diet. A novel protein is just a new protein your pet has never tried before and a hydrolyzed diet contains hydrolyzed proteins that are created via hydrolysis. Hydrolysis uses water to chemically break down proteins into very small pieces so the dog’s immune system won’t react to them. Novel proteins like insect protein can be found in HOPE's complete and balanced dog food.
How long will it take for dog food allergy symptoms to go away?
If your dog has gastrointestinal symptoms (excessive gas, irregular bowel movements, etc.) then your dog could begin recovering from their symptoms around two to four weeks after feeding their new diet, but may take six to eight weeks of a food elimination trial to see a complete resolution. This quick recovery is likely due to high cell turnover rate in the gut, which only takes two to six days in most mammals.
If your dog has dermatological signs of food allergies (itchy skin, hair loss, etc.), it will take a little longer to see their symptoms completely go away (minimum of eight weeks, but as long as 12 weeks for them to completely recover). Cell turnover of healthy skin in dogs can take 20-21 days, depending on the breed and environment they live in.
